Crimea River – A line in the sand for the EU

I’ve watched the developments in the Ukraine with great interest (well more out of morbid curiosity to be honest) because this is the first real shake up of political boundaries since the historic fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the European Unions first real test of their self appointed authority.

For a little perspective, since the fall of the Soviet Empire, the EU has methodically and systematically moved the borders of its influence 1500 miles closer to Moscow – all without a single shot being fired and all financed on the never never by compliant EU institutions happy to promise milk and honey to any fool willing to hand over whatever sovereignty they possess to Brussels. Loyal Soviet satellite states fell over themselves to grab a slice of lucrative grants, ex – party apparatchiks becoming instant billionaires as EU money was siphoned off to fund corrupt State contracts whilst the debts were simply handed down to a bewildered and penniless population used to a quiet complaint life of obedience under the tyrannical boot of old world Communism.

It’s no great secret that the EU and Nato are desperate to destabilise the power Putin wields within the G8, and after his refusal to sanction yet another bloody war in Syria to keep the Neocons in Washington and London happy, there was always going to be “unfinished” business between them all. What better way to kneecap uppity Ivan than by acquiring the one thing he holds most dear – The Black Sea Fleet. The EU provides the ideal model of a 21st century bloodless invasion. Bribe the population and their politicians with visions of shiny Mercedes and watch them come running to Mamma Brussels. Russia, with old scores to settle over the Nato carve up of Kosovo was simply expected to sit back and do nothing?

Putin is a ruthless authoritarian – you don’t get to be Putin without being an utter bastard – and poking him with a stick was always going to provoke a reaction. From the very first grovelling visits by the EU to the now deposed corrupt regime of Yanukovych, the scene was set. All Putin had to do was offer the Russians in Crimea a place at the great Moscow table and they’d queue round the block for a shiny red passport – and queue they did. Lest we forget, Crimea was proudly Russian until Khrushchev handed the place over to the Ukraine a mere 60 years ago. Putin now has a loyal, dependable populace surrounding his jewel in the crown at Sevastopol.

The West is furious. The one real chance they had to project the new EU Reich and Nato deep into old enemy territory and the idiots voted the wrong way. This simply cannot be allowed (as the Irish once showed us) and as the unelected leaders of Brussels scrambled to meet with the as yet unelected new Oligarchs of new “free” Ukraine, the drums of Cold War have started beating again. “Putin will invade Moldavia, Estonia, your back gardens and we’re back to reds under the bed” – a very profitable state of affairs for Big Governments and defence contractors, if I recall correctly.

Whilst the power brokers impose sanctions against Russia and our military leaders demand we treble our defence spending, perhaps we should remember that in 1991, 93% of Crimeans voted to become Russian – not dissimilar to the most recent time they were asked. Make no mistake, the West and the EU has shown their utter disdain for real democracy, the will of the people and common sense. The Ukraine was only ever a false Soviet construct and finally we have a chance to settle this peacefully but it is beyond our Big Government thinking to apply a simple partition solution. It certainly doesn’t bode well for any concept of a referendum in any other EU country and plenty of regions are already weighing up the benefits of autonomy from the Brussels Behemoth – Catalonia, Venice, Scotland and Normandy with more to follow. We’ve had enough of central planning big State politics and are heading towards fragmentation and true autonomy. The question is, how much blood is the West prepared to spill to deny us true freedom? Whilst we debated whether the Ukraine was about to plunge into civil war, perhaps we should be asking how long it will be before we too are forced to overthrow our Oligarchs and reclaim our homelands from van Rompuy and Co?